La donna che canta

Purely marvelous. Life like. I almost fell asleep in the beginning. After 20 min, till the last 15min, was pure suspense.

Denis Villeneuve has created nothing less than a masterpiece. This film is revealing a great Director, especially when given an original story with such powerful dimensions.

Despite being skeptical as first of the film being shot in Jordan, when dealing with the very specific, multidimensional Lebanese drama, the geographic distance with the land of Lebanon is detaching the film from the strict reality of the place and taking it to whole other level of significance. Jordan's landscape especially with the film's photography, are somewhat surrealistic, as if the story was taking place in a deep level of the region's sub-conscious.

Villeneuve has managed to delicately craft a story with dimensions that a human mind in its normal condition is not prepared to understand and confront. And yet these things did happen, many times during the war and retelling them is a very not an easy task. Actually a quasi impossible one and yet Villeneuve did it.

This has to be the film representing Canada at the Oscars. And it will win.

There are secrets to be uncovered now she has passed, the undiscovered stories, that she'd amassed, a father and a brother, you didn't know, could there be others, it's time to lift the bedrock, of the past. You make a visit to a country, in the east, where friction, conflict, war, chaos, have seldom ceased, walking footsteps left in shadow, as you plough a lonely furrow, a record slowly forming, piece by piece. You discover revelations, tragedy; events of circumstance and shocking gravity, an uncontrived coincidence, implications beyond immense, that point to why your mother had to run and flee.

One of the best films you'll come across, brilliantly directed and performed, heart wrenching and packed full of emotion and turmoil.

To be honest, there is nothing left to say story-wise after this film. The tragedy, atmosphere and everything...

As an admirer of Dennis Villeneuve's filmography thanks to his work in past years, I was already familiar with how much of a brilliant storyteller he is. Yet, Incendies is no different. Beautifully structured script, visuals, soundtrack...

Lastly, the intro, along with Radiohead's "You and Whose Army?" is probably the one of the best I've ever witnessed easily.

The main attraction into seeing 'Incendies' was that it was directed by Denis Villeneuve, having loved 'Sicario' and really liked 'Prisoners' (apart from the ending). Reviews for both films recommended 'Incendies' highly and with people calling it one of Villeneuve's best, so seeing the film was definitely on the cards.

Seeing it, 'Incendies' turned out to be every bit the great film as touted. Although more needs to be seen from Villeneuve, 'Incendies' to me does contain some of his best work seen thus far and my second favourite after 'Sicario'. It is a tough watch, often incredibly hard-hitting, and will have things that people will love and others won't (some will, and have done, find it contrived and melodramatic), but again to me 'Incendies' was so exceptionally well made all round with such a strong emotional impact throughout that although it is not perfect it was hard not to be hard on it.

'Incendies's' weak point is the ending, it is certainly unexpected and has some power but also seemed rather contrived and like it went on far with the number of coincidences, almost as credibility-straining as the ending of 'Prisoners' if not quite.

However, 'Incendies' is superbly made visually, especially in the stylish and brooding cinematography, with deft use of close-ups and long shots, that captures the horrors of the story wonderfully, even if Roger Deakins did it just a little bit better. The scenery is similarly audacious while also highly atmospheric. The music is suitably haunting, with great use of Radiohead's "You and Whose Army".

Villeneuve's direction is some of his career's best, he specialised in giving his films a darkness that was beautiful and brutal but also a hard edge that didn't hold back for the better. That can be seen in 'Incendies'. While not as tight as the script in 'Sicario', the script has a lot of emotional impact and provokes thought.

When it comes to the story, 'Incendies' is also hugely successful. It really hits hard without overdoing or sugar-coating things, it's very much authentic, and is also very moving. The bus massacre in particular is a highlight that shocks one to the core. The parallel split-time structure of the story is very interesting, neither story line is hard to follow and they tie up neatly at the end, while the numerous revelations and twists could have been credibility-straining and illogical if not done right but Villeneuve keeps it all under control. Anguish, confusion and regret has not in a while been seen by me so poignantly on film.

Performances are strong across the board, with powerhouse turns from Lubna Azabal and Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin. The film does a particularly great job in creating sympathy for the protagonist, who is developed beautifully, one where she is easy to root for every step of the way and comes over as a compellingly real one.

Overall, great film, a near-masterwork though the ending is not as good as the rest of the film. 9/10 Bethany Cox